CREATIVITY IN SCIENCES

Welcome to the Scientific Creativity Research Hub at Brent Roberts’ Personality Lab. We are engaged in a series of studies exploring the predictors of scientific creativity across different fields. Each study will offer unique insights the factors that contribute to scientific creative achievement. You are free to participate in as many studies as you like, and some of them will offer you immediate feedback on characteristics like personality traits, skills, and others. Your participation in these studies will helps us advance our understanding of the factors that contribute to scientific creativity.

BIG FIVE, VOCATIONAL INTERESTS, AND CREATIVITY TEST

What is the composition of your personality and vocational interests? What about your creative achievements? Take this survey to find out where you stand on the Big Five personality traits and 15 facets, explore your vocational interests, and see how your creativity compares to others who have taken this test.

HOW'S MY PI?

How does your research advisor compare to others on social, emotional, and behavioral skills? Are you dealing with a difficult or a supportive person? Is that the norm or is it your advisor too different from others? This test allows you to compare your ratings to the ratings of other students of their own advisors, so you can get a picture of where your advisor stands.

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

How do your vocational interests compare to others? Are your interests more aligned with artistic, scientific, or business-oriented careers? This test allows you to compare your preferences to the interests of others who have taken the survey, giving you a clearer picture of how your strengths and passions align with different career paths.

Research Highlights

This is the updated, ongoing list of the ideas nominated by scientists as the most creative in their fields. The ideas are divided into 11 broad areas considered "hot areas of science" according to Clarivate. If you belong to any of these areas, you can vote for the ideas already listed. However, if you feel like none of the ideas are truly creative, we would appreciate your input on what ideas should we consider instead by clicking here.
Top 5 Ideas in the History of Science Fields

Top 5 Ideas Nominated as the Most Creative in the History of Different Fields


Agricultural, Plant, and Animal Sciences

Ecology and Environmental Sciences

Geosciences

Clinical Medicine

Chemistry and Material Sciences

Physics

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Mathematics

Information Science

Economics, Psychology, and Other Social Sciences

You can vote in the link below. If you are unsatisfied with these results, you can also provide your input on what you believe are the most creative ideas in your field.

Identifying the 21st Century Scientific Pioneer

With the help of funding from the NOMIS Foundation, we are conducting a large-scale study of modern scientific pioneers to see what traits, abilities, motivations, and sociocultural conditions most strongly predict innovation in science. Most studies on the predictors of scientific creativity in a high-achieving population were done in the mid-20th century and were limited in scope.  Our work will update and expand the research in this area by including a comprehensive set of variables, using multiple assessment methods, and sampling a more diverse group of scientists and scientific teams.  Find out more about this work here.

Participate in Our Research

Click the tabs below to find out how you can contribute to research on scientific creativity.
  • How's My PI
  • Pioneers of Science
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This survey asks about your advisor's social, emotional, and behavioral skills, and compare your ratings to the ratings of other students. This will give you an idea if your advisor stands out (hopefully in a positive way) from others on their social, emotional, and behavioral skills.

Reward: You will have the opportunity to compare your advisor’s social, emotional, and behavioral skills to those of other advisors.
If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to the primary investigator for this survey:
C. K. Gunsalus, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics [email protected]
How do you score on the personality traits that lead to breakthroughs in science? Compare yourself to pioneer scientists in history.

Reward: You will learn where you stand on different personality traits compared to other people who took this test.

Publications

This page will feature a growing list of our publications on scientific creativity as we continue to contribute to this area. Below is our most recent publication:

Roberts, B., Feist, G., Damian, R. I., Fabretti, R., Kuncel, N., Crawford, G., Crawford, C., & Fehr, E. (2024). Finding and Developing the 21st Century Scientific Pioneer. Collabra: Psychology, 10(1), 95047. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.95047